The Atlantic County Historical Society and Is Their Librarian and Board Chaplain
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A Biographical Sketch of Revolutionary War Patriot 1st Lt. Jeremiah Leeds, 3rd Battalion Gloucester County, NJ Militia By Norman Reeves Goos, Librarian Patriotic Service Synopsis 1st Lt. Jeremiah Leeds served in the 3rd Battalion of the Gloucester County, NJ militia under Col. Richard Somers from 1776 through 1783, as stated in his 1832 approved Federal Pension Application1. In his application he states that he served during the battles at Trenton (December 1776), Trenton and Princeton (January 1777), Red Bank on the Delaware River (November 1777), and Chestnut Neck (October 1778), as well as during many other skirmishes and defensive actions during his 7 years in the Gloucester County Militia. He served primarily in Capt. Joseph Covenover‟s 6th Company in Col. Richard Somers‟ Battalion 2 , being commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant on 18 September 1777. There is a family story that this company was temporarily stationed with Gen. Maxwell‟s New Jersey Brigade in the Continental Army but this has not yet been proven3. On Thursday, 4 March 1954, the City of Atlantic City unveiled a monument at Park Place and the Boardwalk honoring Jeremiah Leeds as its first permanent settler4. Another park at Rhode Island and Pacific Avenues was named for Leeds as well5. Basic Facts The Egg Harbor Quaker Meeting record tells us that Jeremiah Leeds was born 4 March 17546 at Leeds Point, Gloucester County, NJ to John Leeds and Sarah Mathis. His father and mother were active lifelong Quakers, both parents being Quaker ministers serving through the meeting house located at Leeds. He had 9 siblings and was probably the tallest of the litter at about 6‟2” in height weighing in at 250 pounds plus7. He married Judith Steelman on 8 December 1776 and produced 8 children; he later married 24-year old Millicent Steelman Ingersoll on 12 October 1817 when he was 63 years old and produced 4 more children. As an interesting aside, Judith and Millicent were 2nd cousins, twice removed, both sharing great-great-grandparents Andrew 1 Atlantic County Historical Society (ACHS) Yearbook, vol. 2, No. 1. Somers Point, NJ: ACHS, (Oct 1952) p. 205-06 2 Stryker, p. 438 3 Franklin Kemp article, undated clipping 4 Atlantic City Press, 5 March 1954 5 Atlantic City Press article, undated clipping 6 ACHS, vol. 1, no. 2, p. 79 7 Hall, John F. The Daily Union History of Atlantic City and County, NJ. At- lantic City, NJ: The Daily Union Printing Co., 1900., p.411 (reporting unverifi- able family tradition) 1 Detail of the 1841 U.S. Coast Survey map8 covering Absecon Inlet and environs, showing the location of the last dwelling of Jeremiah Leeds on Absecon Beach, afterward occupied by his widow, Millicent Ingersoll Leeds. The location is approximately at the intersection of Massachusetts and Baltic Avenues in Atlantic City, according to Hall. and Judith Steelman. In addition to raising livestock, Jeremiah cleared a section of high land on Absecon Beach (the dunes were as high as 50‟ in those days) and started farming corn, rye, and other produce which he sold to passing ships9. The Leeds family also operated a guest house on the island for select guests desiring to hunt waterfowl. After struggling with lip cancer for 40 years10, Jeremiah died on October 10, 1838 at the 251 acre Leeds Plantation in present day Leeds Point and was buried in the Steelman family burial ground in Northfield.11 His remains and headstone were later moved in the 1950‟s to 8 Accessible map at “The West Jersey History Project”: http://www.westjerseyhistory.org/surveys/NJ-coastal-surveys/T-0142%20- %20Leeds%20Pint%20to%20Lakes%20Creek%20-%201841.jpg 9 Atlantic City Press, 26 Mar. 1961 10 Hall, op. cit., p. 412 (reporting unverifiable family tradition) 11 ACHS Yearbook, vol. 2, No. 1 (Oct 1952) pp. 203-06 2 Oxford Circle in Northfield in order to make room for a housing development. He began, at least on 6 Mar. 1805, to acquire land on Absecon Beach per Gloucester and Atlantic County deeds (paying about 40 cents an acre) 12 , enough land that it became known as Leeds Beach. His son Chalkey Leeds, the first mayor of Atlantic City, stated that Jeremiah first acquired land on the island in 1783 but no deeds have as yet proven this, although he was living on the island at that time. It is estimated that he owned most of the land north of Dry Inlet13 in South Atlantic City (meaning north of Ventnor, Margate and Longport), other than the 131 acre inlet Chamberlain Tract. 14 Today he is considered to be the first white settler on what is now Absecon Island and the first person to have built a house in what is now Atlantic City, NJ, located on the present Arctic Ave. between Missouri and Arkansas Aves. Leeds later built a bigger house at today‟s Baltic and Massachusetts Aves. He died intestate (without a will) and the Orphan‟s Court dispersed his 1058 1/3 acres to his family.15 The number of acres that each child inherited is 12 Beach Haven Times, 15 Nov. 1978 13Dry Inlet was in the vicinity of present-day Jackson Avenue. ACHS, vol. 17, No. 2 (Dec 2013) p. 15 14 Atlantic County Historical Society, deed books 15 English, B.L. History of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Philadelphia: Dickson & Gilling Publishers, 1884. pp. 25-28, 33-34, 38 3 listed in the genealogy 16at the conclusion of this article. The Orphans‟ Court Records are found in the New Jersey Archives in Trenton at the following location: 1837-1860 Atlantic County Surrogate, Orphan Court Minutes, and Vol. A, pp. 32, 35, 38, 39, 45 and 47, Microfilm 2-3. The children later sold the inherited 40 cents per acre land in 1853-54 for $5 to $17 per acre when Atlantic City started to expand. The Massachusetts Avenue home was later turned into a small inn by Jeremiah‟s widow Millicent, “Aunt Millie.” It was the only licensed inn on the island and its guests were oystermen, beach goers and waterfowl hunters. 17 Family History Jeremiah Leeds came from a middle-class family of coopers (barrel makers) who immigrated directly to New Jersey before late 1676. When his great-great grandfather Thomas Leeds left Stansted, Mount Fichet, Essex, England, and after a possible stop in Long Island, he took residence at Little Silver Point in Shrewsbury, Middlesex County. He left England to avoid the religious persecution directed at the Quakers. His three sons probably followed soon after him, possibly in 1678. The Beach Haven Times reports an interesting piece of information but gives no source for the account: “Thomas had been thrown into prison because of his political opposition to Charles I. When Charles died, Thomas was released from the Tower of London a freeman, but when Charles II took the throne, he decided that England was not a safe place for the Leeds family and so Thomas made his way to America, leaving Daniel to settle the family‟s affairs.”18 (Based on English history, the account is credible but there is as yet no actual proof of its veracity.) Thomas signed the “Concessions & Agreements” and obtained 240 acres in Shrewsbury in March 1677, meaning that he was in Shrewsbury by that date. In the account in the British official death records, his wife, Mary Cartwright (listed as wife of Thomas), died 4 July 1677 of smallpox at her sibling John‟s home on Westbury Street in Stansted, England. The record says she was buried at Chequer Alley, London, England; the smallpox was possibly the reason she did not immigrate with Thomas. There is another family account, although without any proof, that says Thomas‟ wife immigrated with him and died in Shrewsbury on the same date in 1677, but there is no wife‟s name associated with this account and no proof of this burial in the Shrewsbury Friends records. The wife‟s Stansted, England death seems more probable. Nevertheless, Thomas and Mary had four children while in England, an unnamed child who was born and died in 1648, plus three sons: Daniel (1651-1720), William (1653-1753) and Thomas II (1654-?). There may have been a daughter born to this family as well, Mary (1665-1727); but this woman was more probably a cousin. Mary Leeds‟ New 16 ACHS Yearbook, vol. 2, No. 1 (Oct 1952) p. 205-06 17 Heston, Alfred M. Absegami: Annals of Eyren Haven and Atlantic City, 1609-1904. Camden: Sinnickson Chew & Sons, 1904. P. 116 18 Beach Haven Times, 15 Nov. 1978, p. 6 4 Jersey will says that she died in Burlington in 1727 in a financially comfortable state 19 and was probably the daughter of Thomas‟ son William. Thomas married Margaret Collier on 6 August 1678 in Burlington and resided at Shrewsbury until his death on 23 November 1687. His New Jersey will mentions only his sons Daniel and William 20 , Thomas II presumably predeceasing his father. As said earlier, Thomas Leeds‟ family came to America as barrel-makers (coopers) with enough money in hand to buy property for both the father and two of the sons, plus enough to acquire extra land quickly. In his son Daniel‟s famous almanac there is both a family crest in the masthead as well as a mention that the family was related to a “gentleman” or nobleman from Leeds in Kent (Kent, Essex and London are adjacent counties). Daniel was criticized heavily by the Philadelphia Quaker hierarchy for his theology and his son Titan was likewise criticized by fierce almanac competitor Ben Franklin.